Vegetarian Classic Pretzel Rolls

Total time2 hr 5 min

Prep time30 min

Cook time20 min

4.6

(29)

Chewy on the outside, pillowy in the middle, and finished with a generous shower of coarse salt — these rolls deliver everything you love about a classic soft pretzel in a handheld, pull-apart form. The secret to that deep, glossy, mahogany crust is a two-part trick: baking the baking soda before it ever hits the water bath, then briefly simmering each roll in that alkaline bath before it goes anywhere near the oven. It sounds like extra work, but both steps are genuinely simple and the payoff in flavor and color is enormous. The dough itself comes together with just flour, butter, yeast, and salt — no eggs buried in the crumb, no meat-based additives, nothing that would complicate a meat-free kitchen. An egg wash brushed on right before baking is what seals in that signature sheen and helps the salt stick. These rolls are spectacular alongside a bowl of soup, stuffed with your favorite sandwich fillings, or honestly just torn apart warm with a little mustard on the side. Once you make them from scratch, the bakery version is going to have a hard time competing.

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Ingredients

8 servings

For the dough

1 cup warm water (105–110°f / 40–43°c)
2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
1 tsp granulated sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tsp fine salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

For the boiling bath

¼ cup baking soda
8 cups water
1 tbsp granulated sugar

For finishing

1 large egg
1 tbsp water
1–2 tbsp coarse pretzel salt or flaky sea salt

Instructions

1
Combine the warm water, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and let stand until the surface is foamy and the mixture smells yeasty, about 5–8 minutes. If the yeast does not foam, it is not active — start over with fresh yeast.
2
Add the flour, fine salt, and softened butter to the yeast mixture. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until the flour is incorporated, then increase to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth, slightly tacky, and pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl, about 6–8 minutes. The dough should spring back slowly when poked.

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